Pattern control means for knitting machines



Ma`y15, 1951 J. C. SMMQNS Em 2,552,142

PATTERN CONTROL MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 2, 1948 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 OOQDO JOHN C. SIMMoN's Dawn H. SETZE and DWIGHT E. MULL,

'3u/UWM May l5, 1951 J. c. slMMoNs ETAT. 2,552,742

PATTERN coNTRoL MEANS FOR KNTTTING MACHINESA Filed Aug. 2.' 194s s sheets-sheet s l 19a r/az Mining.

Dnvm H. .SEWER and DWIGHT E. MULL,

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May 15, 1951 J. c. slMMoNs rs1-AL PATTERN CQNTROL MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 2, 1948 JoHN C SlMMoNs Davao HSETZER and A V DWIGHT E. MULL,

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May l5, 1951 v J. c. slMMoNs ET AL 2,552,742

PATTERN coNTRoL MEANS EON NNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 2. 1948 e sheets-shed s4 JOHN C. Simmons DAVID H. .Ssrzm am! /21` Dwlsur E. Mum

E, @www May 15, 1951 y J. c. slMMoNs ETAL 2,552,742

PATTERN CONTROL MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 2, 1948 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 JoHN C.S1MM0N5 DAVID H. SETZER and DWIGHT E MULL.

wwz/Yvwrn Patented May 15, 1951 PATTERN CONTROL MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES John C. Simmons, David H. Setzer, and Dwight E. Mull, Valdese, N. C., assignors to Waldensian Hosiery Mills, Incorporated, Valdese, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina Application August 2, 1948, Serial No. 41,984

6 Claims.

This invention relates to circular knitting machines and more especially to a pattern range multiplier attachment which is more especially adapted to circular knitting machines such as the Scott and Williams Komet, Links and Links double indexing circular knitting machine.

It is a well known fact to those familiar with the art that machines of this type are provided with an upper needle cylinder having a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending grooves in its periphery and in which conventional selectors have vertical sliding movement, there being a connection between the selectors and the needles of the needle cylinder. The selectors are adapted to be engaged by certain of selector lingers oscillatably mounted adjacent a selector drum disposed adjacent the needle cylinder and in which a plurality of pattern pins are disposed for actuating the selector ngers and to thereby move certain of these fingers into the path of certain of the butts of the selectors to thus move the same downwardly in a knitting operation.

The selector drum with the pattern pins therein is rotated in step by step relation with each revolution of the needle cylinder. This arrangement normally permits a maximum of two identically knitted courses with each progressive step of the selector drum, there being two courses knitted with each revolution of the needle cylinder.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide means for increasing the number of courses per step of the selector drum, as desired, thereby increasing the range of the pattern drum proportionally to the increased number of courses beyond its normal capacity.

It is another object of this invention to provide an adjustable cam wheel mounted adjacent and driven by the main drive shaft of a circular knitting machine of the type described, and to provide a lever arm pivotally mounted adjacent the conventional selector drum racking pawl, there being a connection between the cam wheel and the lever arm to thus move one end of the arm into the path of the selector drum racking pawl after it has completed one stroke, to generate one step in the step by step rotation of the selector drum, and to thus prevent the selector drum racking pawl from returning to where it may start another stroke for a predetermined length of time and to thereby allow the needle cylinder to rotate a predetermined number of revolutions in addition to its normal single revolution before the selector drum is advanced another step.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a circular knitting machine with parts omitted and other parts being broken away and showing the invention mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevation of the conventional selector drum associated with a portion of the upper needle cylinder and is taken substantially along the line 2 2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan View of a portion of the knitting machine with parts in section and is taken substantially along the line 3 3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view of the front portion of the machine and is taken substantially along the line 4 4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5 5 in Figure 1 and showing parts of the knitting machine schematically;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken substantially along the line 6 6 in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an enlarged elevation taken along the line 1 1 in Figure 5;

Figure 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 8 8 in Figure 5;

Figure 9 is an enlarged elevation taken along the line 9 9 in Figure 7;

Figure 10 is an enlarged vertical lsectional view taken along the line Ill-l0 in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a top plan View similar to that shown in Figure 3 but being madeon a smaller scale and showing various parts broken away for purposes of clarity.

Referring more specically to the drawings, the numeral l!! broadly designates the cast frame of a circular knitting machine. The frame lll is comprised of legs il which support a conventional oil tray l2 having the lower edges of the lower bed plate support members I3 and I4 secured thereto, and the upper ends of the bed plate support members have a lower bed plate l5 secured thereon on which the lower ends of intermediate bed plate supporting pillars 20 are mounted. The upper ends of the pillars 20 have a conventional intermediate bed plate 2| mounted thereon. The intermediate bed plate 2| has the lower ends of vertically disposed upper bed plate supporting pillars 23 mounted thereon, on the upper ends of which is secured a conventional upper bed plate 24.

The upper bed plate 24 has the lower end of a 3 conventional take-up lever pivot post 26 secured therein, as by a pressed fit, and extending upwardly therefrom. The lower bed plate I5 has a bearing member I6 secured thereto which extends downwardly. The bed plate support member I4 and the bearing member I6 have a horizontally disposed shaft I'I journaled therein on which a conventional clutch drum 30 and a quality drum 3l are iixedly mounted, and this quality drum 3l engages the lower Vends of a plurality of conventional operating rods 3'2 which extend upwardly and slidably penetrate the intermediate and upper bed plates12 I` and 24, but which are shown in Figurel as being broken away immediately above the lower bed plate I5,

for purposes of clarity. These rods 32 operate4 various instrumentalities such. as yarn feed fingers.

The vertical member I4 of the frame l0 has a conventional drive shaft 35 and conventional shafts 36 and 31 (Figure 5) journaled therein, in a conventional manner, and the shaft 35 has a pinion i6 thereon meshing with a pinion lll iixedly mounted on the shaft 36 and the shaft 36 also has a pinion 42 fixedly mounted thereon which Vmeshes with `a gear 43 fixedly mounted on the shaft' 3l. The gear d3` meshes with a conventional striper racking gear i4 xedly mounted on a stub shaft 45, as by a pressed t. lThe shaft 45 is rotatably mounted in a bearing block i5 secured to the rear surface of the frame I (Figure as by screws 4T. The shaft 45 has a collar 58 Xedly mounted thereon, as by aset screw 49, to prevent endwise movement of the shaft-135.

The upper bed plate 24 has the upper end of a conventional upper needle cylinder 56 rotatably mounted therein (Figures 1 rand 4). The needle cylinder extends downwardly and freely penetrates the intermediate bed plate 2 I and is rotated on its axis by conventional connections from the main shaft 35 of the machine, not shown. The upper needle cylinder 5t hasta plurality of spaced grooves 56a in its periphery and a plurality of spaced butts 5I extend from the same, which are a portion of conventional selectors 52 (Figure 4) which have vertical sliding movement in the spaced grooves 55a in the periphery of the needle cylinder 50.

Mounted adjacent the upper needle cylinder 50y is a conventional selector drum 55 which is rotatably mounted on a stud, not show-n, projecting upwardly from a plate 51 (Figures 1, 2 and 4s) secured to the intermediate bed plate 2I. The peripheral surface of the selector drum which is sometimes called a pattern drum, is, in practice, provided with a number of holes in which suitable selector pins 56 are inserted in accordance with the pattern to be produced in the knitted fabric.

These pins 56 cooperate with a series of selector levers or fingers 60 (Figure 4) by the aid of which a selective action is performed upon the needles in the needle cylinder as is clearly shown in Patent Number 2,070,762 of February 16, 1937, and Patent Number 2,019,396 of October 29, 1935. The selector fingers 60 are oscillatably mounted on a vertically disposed rod 6i fixedly mounted in a block S2, secured, as by screws E3, tothe plate 5l secured to the top surface of the intermediate bed plate 2|. This block 62 has a plurality of slots 64 therein, each of which is slidably penetrated by one of the lingers 60 to thus hold the fingers 60 in spaced relation to each other.

It may be observed in Figure 4 that the fingers 6I] each have a projection 65, each of which is 4 adapted to be engaged by a leaf spring member 65 secured to a vertical rod 6l as by screws l5. The vertical rod is secured, in a conventional manner, in the upper and lower bed plates I5 and 2i, respectively. The leaf spring members 66 are provided to urge one end 65a of the selector fingers 65 into engagement with the periphery of the selector drum 55 and the selector pins 55 projecting therefrom, as shown in Figure 4 and to thus urge the free ends of the selector fingers 60 outwardly into the paths of the butts 5I whichproject from the periphery of the needle cylinder 50. In the construction shown in the drawings, the selector pins 55 are protected by a cylindrical guard l2 which has adjacent the ends 65a of the n'gers 55 a vertically disposed slot formed in it to enable the ends 65a to extend into the paths of the pins 56.

Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 1l, it may be observed that the selector drum 55 has, disposed on its upper end, a ratchet wheel 'i3 which is adapted to be engaged by a conventional selector drum racking pawl 'Ilipivotally mounted on a pawl-carrying lever 'l5 which is mounted to swing upon the axis of the selector drum 55 and is oscillated in one direction by a tension spring 'I6 and in the reverse direction by a cam member il.

A tension spring I tends to maintain the pawl T4V in engagement with the ratchet wheel 73. The cam member 'il is secured to a conventional gear wheel connected to the upper end of the needle cylinder 55, in a conventional manner, and which is instrumental in transmitting rotation tothe needle cylinder from'the drive shaft 35. It is thus seen that the cammember ll rotates about the axis of the needle cylinder 55 with the gear wheel 85.

By referring to Figure 3 there may be observed the free ends of conventional pawl-controlling fingers 82 and 83Y which are controlled, by conventional parts, not shown, connected to the quality drum 3| in Figure l, and in accordance with the desired pattern, in such a manner as to engage the edge of a block t5 secured, as by a bolt 86, to the pawl-carrying lever 'E5 to thus prevent the tension spring 'i6 from moving the pawlcarrying lever 'i5 from left to right at its frontend in Figures 3 and 11. lThe fingers 83 and 54 are shown in Patent Number 2,070,762. These fingers 32 and 83 are caused to engage the block automatically at the beginning of the knitting of the heel pouch of a hose, by conventional means, not shown in the drawings, but which are shown in Patent Number 2,070,762, to thereby stop rotation of the selector drum 55, and during which time the rotation of the needle cylinder is stopped automatically and the needle cylinder 59' is caused to oscillate until the end of the heel pouch knitting operation and, by conventional means, not shown in the drawings, but shown in Patent Number 2,070,762, the iingers S2 and 83 are then moved out of engagementwith the block 84 to thus permit the tension spring 'i6 to move the ratchet pawl il?. from left to right in Figures 3 and l1 to resume its normal operation.

The parts heretofore described are conven tional parts of a stitch-over-stitch circular knitting machine, and it is with these parts that this invention is adapted to be associated.

Although the action of the fingers 62 and 83 has been described, this description is made by way of comparison, inasmuch as this invention performs a similar operation to the fingers 82 and 83, but at an entirely different time, lthat is during the knitting of the body of the hose rather than during the knitting of the heel pouch asueto@ case with the fingers 82 and 83.

Referring to Figures 5, 7,' 8 and 9 observed that there is an inverted bracket 90 secured, as by bolts 9| andi92,vto the rearmost end of a chain rack bracket 93 which is a conventional part of this knitting machine, and is secured to the lower surface of the conventional oil tray |2, as by screws 94 (Figure5). This chain rack bracket S3 normally has an upwardly extending portion thereon but this bracket must be cut oif along the line indicated at 95 (Figure 9) so as to not interfere with the installation of this attachment. 1 A

'Ihe chain rack bracket 93 has a downwardly extending portion 96 having a substantial-ly vertically disposed slot 91 therein, which ispenetrated by the bolts 3| and 92. The inverted-L-shaped bracket 90 has an arcuate slot |00 thereiir which is penetrated by the bolt in Figure 9foradjust` ing the upper end of the bracket 90 relative tothe striper racking gear 44. v

The inverted L-shaped bracket 90 has bosses |05 and |36 integral therewith and the boss |03 has slidably penetrating the same a restricted threaded portion |01 of a shoulder bolt |63 which is secured in the boss |05 by a nut I0 (Figure l). The shoulder bolt |08 has an idler pinion ||2 rotatably mounted thereon, which is in engagement with the striper racking gear` 6Min Figures 5, 7 and 9. The pinion |2 also engages a gear wheel ||3 rotatably mounted on a shaft ||4 having a restricted portion (Figure 8) vwhich slidably penetrates the boss |06 and has a nut |764 threadably mounted on the other end thereof to thus secure the shaft I4 to the bracket'.

The stud shaft I4 also has a collarri Ilxedly secured thereon, as by a set screw l| I3, and the gear wheel H3 is prevented from having lateral movement on the shaft ||4 by being mounted between the boss |06 and the collar ||1 (Figure 8). The gear ||3 has an annular groove |22 in' one side thereof in which a semi-circular cam member |23 is mounted and projects outwardly therefrom. This semi-circular cam member |23 has cavities |23 therein the depths of which are equal to about one-half the thickness of the cam member |23 and slots |25 penetrate the cam member |23 in the cavities |211. These slots |25 are slidably penetrated by screws |26, the 'other ends of which are threadably imbedded. in'fthe" gear wheel H3 to adjustably secure the cam` member |23 to the gear wheel ||3. Y Y, ,l

Although the cam member |23 is show n .in Figure 5 as being semi-circular, it is obvious thatthis cam member may be 4quartercircular or4 three-quartercircular or of any other desired arcuate length to increase or decrease the length of the period in which theselector drum racl. ing pawl 14 remains stationary, in the manner to be later described.

The stub shaft lili, on which the gear wheel Ils is rotatably mounted, has clampedthereon, as by a screw |30 (Figures 5 and 7) Iarearwardly extending bar |3| having an elongated slotlv|32 therein which is loosely penetrated bya threaded portion |33 of a shaft |34 (Figure 6). This shaft |33 also has an enlarged portion |35whioh enf.` gages the surface of the bar |3| adjacent the. gear wheel ||3 and the opposite surface of this bar |3| is engaged by a washer |36 .,lsecured., against the bar |3| by a nut |31threadably mounted on the portion |33. It wmf oe noted@ that the washer |36 has a collar portion-'|40 tegral therewith and the portion |35h`a`s- "ai means such as a screw |14 (Figure 5).

shoulder portion |4| integral therewith and the'A shoulder portion Ml, as well as the collar |40 are snugly fitted into the slot |32 in the bar |3| to thus support the shaft |34 in a horizontally disposed position.

The shaft |34 has a lever arm |42 oscillatably mounted thereon having a hub portion |43 integral therewith and this lever arm |42 is conned on the shaft ld by a cotter key |38, which penetrates the left-hand end of the shaft |34 in Figure 6. The lever arm |42 is disposed in a substantially vertical plane and the upper end of the same is slidably penetrated by a restricted portion M11 of a shoulder bolt |45 and this portion |43 is threadably engaged by a nut |46 to thus secure the shoulder bolt |45 to the lever arm |42.

The shoulder bolt |45 has a cam follower |41 rotatably mounted thereon, and the cam follower irl? is adapted to engage the outer periphery of the semi-circular cam member |23 and is urged into engagement with the same by a tension spring |50, the rear end of which is connected to the lever |42 and the front end of which is connected to a spring perch |5| (Figure 5) secured to the conventional oil tray |2, of the frame I3, by any suitable means such as a screw |52.

The lower portion of the lever arm |32 has a plurality of spaced threaded holes |53 therein,

any one of which is adapted to be threadably penetrated by one Iend of a shoulder screw |54 on which the rearmost end of a connecting llink |55 is pivotally mounted. This connecting link |55 extends forwardly, or from right to left as observed in Figure 5, and its front end is pivotally connected, as at |60, to one end of a strap iron bell crank lever |62 pivotally mounted, as at |63, in the lower end of a downwardly extending inverted L-shaped bracket it secured, as by a screw |65, to the lower surface of the oil tray I2, of the frame i0. The bell crank |62, is twisted at right angles, as at |61, and the outer end of the same is loosely penetrated by the lower end of a Bowden wire |10.

The lower end of the Bowden wire |10, in Figure 5, has a collar 1| xedly secured thereon, as by a set screw |12, and the housing of the Bowden wire is fastened to the front surface of the oil tray l2, of the frame i0, by a clamp member |13 secured to the oil tray |2, by any suitable It may be observed in Figure l that the Bowden wire |10 then extends upwardly between the quality drum 3| and the clutch drum 30, and is fastened, as by a clamp member |16, to the intermediate bed plate 2|. The clamp member |16 is secured to the intermediate bed plate 2|, as by a screw |11.

The Bowden wire |13 extends upwardly beyond the intermediate bed plate 2| and its upper end slidably penetrates a cuff member (Figure 3) and there is a collar |0| secured to the upper end 0f the Bowden wire |10, as by a set screw |82. The cuff member |80 is threadably imbedded ad jacent one end of a lever arm |02 (Figures 1 and 3) which is oscillatably mounted intermediate its ends, on a screw |84 threadably imbedded in the upper bed plate 24. The left-hand end of the lever arm |82 in Figures 1 and 3 has an inwardly bent portion |86 which is adapted to engage an upwardly projecting pin |81 (Figure 2) the lower end of which is restricted and slidably penetrates the outer end of the conventional pawl-carrying lever 15, and is secured thereon by -a'nut |88 (Figure 2).

Figure. 1, has the lowery end of a. tension spring- |90 connected thereto which extends upwardly and. is connected to the upper endof the conventional take-up lever pivot post 26 to thus, urge the right-hand end of the lever |82 in Figure. 1` upwardly and to move its other end downwardly into the path of the upwardly projecting pin |81 on the pawl-carrying lever l5.

Now, when the conventional needle cylinder I] completes one revolution, this causes the needles associated therewith to knit two courses and then certain of theselector ingers 68 being in the pathof. the buttsi5| projecting from the needle cylinder 50, will then engage certain of the butts 5| to move them downwardly. The selector drum 55 would then be caused to rotate another step by means of the cam member 11 moving to engage the pawl-carrying lever 15 in the manner heretofore described.

This operation will continue as long as the cam follower |41 (Figure 6) is not in engagement.

with the outer periphery of the semi-circular cam member |23 in Figure 5. When the cam follower |41 is not in engagement with the outer periphery of the cam member |23, the tensionspring |50 urges the upper end of the lever arm |42 inwardly and thereby moves the lower end of the lever arm |42 outwardly and it is obvious that this outward movement of the lever arm |42, at its lower end.v Would move the connecting link |55 from right. to left in Figure 5 and would cause the bell crank |62 to partially rotate in a clockwise direction in Figure 5. This would cause the right-hand end of the same to move downwardly and would pull the Bowden wire downwardly and would thus. pull the right-hand end of the lever arm |82 downwardly in Figure 1 against the resistance of the spring |911 and would hold the left-hand end' y|86 of the same upwardly and out of engagement with the pin |81 to thus allow normal operation of the knitting machine.

Now, it is obvious that when the cam follower |41 is engaged by the cam member |23 in such a manner as to move the upper end of the same outwardly, or to the left in Figure 5, this would cause the Bowden wire |18. to be moved upwardly by the tension spring |58 at the outer end ofthe lever. arm |82 in Figure 1. lever arm |82 would then move downwardly into the position shown in Figure l and the inwardly bent portion |85' would then be in the path of the pin |81 projecting upwardly from the outer end of the pawl-carrying lever 15. It is obvious that the pawl-oarrying lever and the selector drum racking pawl-14 would not be able to move from left to right at their front ends in Figures 3. and' 11, and consequently, although the cam member 11 in Figure 11 will continue to rotate withthe needle cylinder 58, the cam member 11 willv not.

be able to transmit motion to the pawl-carrying lever 15, inasmuch as it will be held out of engagement with the same by the bent portion |86 of the arm |82 and thus the selector drum 55 will remain stationary during succesive revolutionsof. the needle cylinder 56| until the lever arm |82 is again moved downwardly at its right-hand end in- Figure 1, and upwardly at its left-handA end,A out of .the` path of the pin |81 mounted on the front end of the pawl-carrying lever 15. The normal,

operation of the selector drum 55 and theselector ngers 68. associated therewith would. thenbe resumed.

The idler pinion I I2 and the gear wheel |33 are ofv such. proportions that the semi-circular cam member |23 would cause the lever arm |82 to The left-hand end of' the' 81 movadownwardly into the path of the pin |81, at the front end of; the pawl-carrying lever 15, once in every four revolutions of the needle cylinder 50. thus increasing the. courses per step of the selector drum. for instance, from a normal twoto` eight.A Thisv causes the selector drum 55 to remain stationary through four revolutions of the. needle' cylinder instead of a normal single revolution..

Obviously, by changing the cam member |23 frenik semi-circular to quarter-circular, the drum 55` would: remain stationary for two revolutions of thfefneedle. cylinder and by changing the cam member |23 from semi-circular to three-quartercircular, the. selector drum 55 would remain stationary for. six revolutions.

4Itfisthus seenthat the pattern range formed by the selector pins 56 in the selector drum 55 wouldthenbe increased in much the same manner aswouldA be. thecase if a selector drum of much greater diameter were installed on the machine, due tothe suspending of movement of the selector drum 55 in the manner described.

In'the drawings and specification there has been set` forth a. preferred embodiment of the invention,v and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptivens'ense` only, and' not for purposes of limitatio11`,',`the.scope.of the invention being dened in the claims.

We claim:

1. ln a circular knitting machine having a selector pattern drum and a needle cylinder and devices associated with the needle cylinder controlled. by the selector drum, driving means for rotating, sad drum in step by step relation comprisigng a. cam. member adapted to rotate with the needle cylinder, a. pawl carrying lever mountedto swing about the axis of the selector drum and'one end of which is adapted to be engaged by thecam member, a ratchet pawl pivotally mountedv adjacent the other end of the pawl-carrying lever to thus transmit one step in the step by stepjrotationof the selector drum with each revolution of' the needle cylinder, an upwardly eX- tending, pin-.secured to said pawl-carrying lever, a lever' arm oscillatably mounted adjacent the upwardly extending pin, means for automatically moving one. end' of' the lever arm into the path of the upwardly extending pin for. a predeterminedl'ength of, time to thus prevent the pawlcarrying lever' and its associated pawl from moving reversely` after it has completed a stroke to generate a step in the step by step rotationoi` the selector drum and toA where the opposite end of the-pawl-carrying leverV will be held out of engagement with the cam member associated with the needle cylinder to thus suspend the step by step- -rotation of the selector drum for a predetern'ii'nedv length of time until the lever arm again automatically moved out of the path of and out of engagement with the upwardly extending pin'.

2; InV astructure according to claim l, said means forautomatically moving one end of the lever arm into-the path of the upwardly extending pirrfof`v the pawl-ca-rryng lever comprising a fixed shaft, a gear wheel rotatably mounted on said Xed shaft and being driven by the machine, said gear wheel having a cam member mounted on one side thereof', a bar secured to one end of said.' shaft, a lever arm pivotally mounted on said bar, a camdollower mounted on one end of said last-namedleverarm .andwhich is adapted to engage. the: cam member, spring means for urging said cam follower into engagement with the cam member, a connection between the last-named lever arm and the lever arm disposed adjacent the pawl-carrying lever and whereby upon rotation of the gear wheel and its associated cam member the cam member will move into engagement with the cam follower of the lever arm to thus cause the last-named lever arm to move the iirst-namedilever arm in one direction or the other and whereby when the cam member moves out of engagement with the cam follower, the spring means will move the last-named lever arm in a direction opposite from that inA which the cam member has forced it tomove to thus move the rst-named lever arm in the opposite direction from that in which it has been previously moved.

3. In a structure according to claim 2, a bell crank pivotally mounted below the first-named lever arm and being on a horizontal plane with the second-named lever arm, a connecting link between the second-named lever arm and the `bell crank, a Bowden wire extending from the firstnamed lever arm to the bell crank to where oscillation oi the second-named lever arm in the manner described will transmit oscillation to the bell crank and the bell crank in turn will transmit oscillation to the first-named lever arm to thus cause one end of the first-named lever arm to move into the path of the upwardly projecting portion of the pawl-carrying lever.

4. In a circular knitting machine having a selector pattern drum and a needle cylinder and devices associated with the needle cylinder controlled by the selector drum, driving means for rotating said drum in step by step relation comprising a cam member adapted to rotate with the needle cylinder, a pawl-carrying lever mounted to swing about the axis of the selector drum and one end of which is adapted to be engaged by the cam member, a ratchet pawl pivotally mounted adjacent the other end of the pawl-carrying lever to thus transmit one step in the step by step rotation oi the selector drum with each revolution of the needle cylinder, an upwardly extending pin secured to said pawl-carrying lever, a lever arm oscillatably mounted adjacent the upwardly extending pin, means for automatically moving one end of the lever arm into the path of the upwardly extending pin for a predetermined length of time to thus prevent the pawlcarrying lever and its associated pawl from moving reversely after it has completed a stroke to `generate a step in the step by step rotation of the selector drum and to where the opposite end of the pawl-carrying lever will be held out of engagement with the cam member associated with the needle cylinder to thus suspend the step by step rotation oi the selector drum for a predetermined length of time until the lever arm is again automatically moved out of the path or" and out oi engagement with the upwardly extending pin, said means for automatically moving one end of the lever arm into the path of the upwardly extending pin of the pawl-carrying lever comprising a fixed shaft, a gear wheel rotatably mounted on said fixed shaft and being driven by the machine, said gear wheel having a cam member mounted on one side thereof, a bar secured to one end of said shaft, a lever arm pivotally mounted on said bar, a cam follower mounted on one end of said last-named lever arm and which is adapted to engage the cam member, spring means for urging said cam follower into engagement with the cam member, a connection between the last-named lever arm and the lever arm disposed adjacent the pawl-carrying lever whereby, upon rotation of the gear wheel 'and its associated cam member, the cam member will move into engagement with the cam follower of the lever arm to thus cause the last-named lever arm to move the first-named lever arm in one direction or the other and whereby when the cam member moves out of engagement with the cam follower, the spring means will move the lastnamed lever arm in a direction opposite from that in which the cam member has forced it to move to thus move the Erst-named lever arm in the opposite direction iromthat in which it has been previously moved, a bell crank pivotally mounted below the iirst-named lever arm and being cna horizontal plane with the second-named lever arm, a connecting link between the secondnamed lever arm and the bell crank, a Bowden wire extending from the first-named lever arm to the bell crank to where oscillation of the second-named lever arm in the manner described will transmit oscillation to the bell crank and the bell crank, in turn, will transmit oscillation to the first-named lever arm to thus cause one end of the first-named lever arm to move into the path of one end of the pawl-carrying lever.,

5. In a circular knitting machine having a selector drum and a needle cylinder and. devices associated with the needle cylinder being controlled by the selector drum and driving means for rotating said drum in step by step relation comprising a pawl and ratchet wheel and a cam member adapted to rotate with the needle cylinder to thus transmit one step in the step by step rotation of the selector drum with each revolution of the needle cylinder and a pawl-carrying lever mounted to swing about the axis of the selector drum and one end of said pawl-carrying lever being adapted to be engaged by the cam member and the pawl being pivotally mounted adjacent the other end of the pawl-carrying lever and spring means for urging one end of said pawlcarrying lever in a direction opposite to that in which the cam member moves the same, a lever arm oscillatably mounted adjacent that end of the pawl-carrying lever on which the pawl is mounted, means for automatically moving one end of the lever arm into the path of the end of the pawl-carrying lever remote from the end which is adapted to be engaged by the cam member for a predetermined length of time to thus prevent the pawl-carrying lever and its associated pawl from moving reversely after it has completed a stroke to generate a step in the step by step rotation of the selector drum and to where the opposite end of the pawl-carrying lever is held out of engagement with the cam member associated with the needle cylinder to thus suspend the step by step rotation. of the tical sliding movement, said machine also having a plurality of selector fingers oscillatably mounted adjacent the circular machine needle cylindenanda selector drumassociated withthe fingers and having meansv for patterning associated therewith for moving Vcertain of said selector fingers into the paths of certai-nof the said butts, said Vneedle cylinder fhaving a cam Vmember, said selector drum having a ratchet wheel integral therewith and 4a pawl-Vcarrying lever oscillatably mounted to swing about the `axis of the selector drum and having a resiliently mounted ratchet pawl connected thereto the other .end of which is adapted to engage the ratchet wheel and the ratchet carrying lever being adapted to be intermittently engaged by the ,cam .member von the needle cylinder to thus move `the pawlecarrying lever about the axis of the ,same .and to .in 'turn .move the pawl and kthe ratchet Wheel associated therewith in .such .a

.manner as Ato transmit step .bylstep rotation to .the selector drum, the drum. thereby beingcaused to move one `Astep with .each revolution of the needle cylinder, cam means for automatically suspending movement -of the pawl-carrying lever at the completion of one o-f itsstrokesfor la prel2 determined number of complete revolutions of the needle cylinder and said cam member being adapted to allcw normal operation of the needle cylinder and associated parts `to resume after having rotated the predetermined number of revolutions.

JOHN C. SIMMONS.

DAVID H. SETZER.

DWIGHT E. MULL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,005,632 Page June l8 1935 2,047,279 McAdams July 14:,L 1936 2,255,693 Jones Sept. 9, 194,1 v2,316,823A Thurston Apr. 20, 1943 2,382,757 Wawzonek Aug. 14, 1945 2,411,795 Lawson Nov. 26, 1946 

